During World War II, Turkey saw increased espionage by British, Soviet, and German operatives and sympathizers. The MAH learned that the Nazi Germany would not attempt to invade Turkey, allowing the İnönü administration to resist mounting Allied pressure to declare war on Germany. (British efforts to get Turkey as an ally against Germany are a central element of Eric Ambler's classic spy thriller Journey Into Fear, published in 1940, in which a fictional head of the MAH, Colonel Haki, plays an important role.)

^¶ The early Turkish government named the organization MAH, without expanding the acronym, so unauthorized persons would not be able to guess what the organization was responsible for. This gave rise to incorrect backronyms such as Millî Amale Hizmeti and Millî Asayiş Hizmeti.[2]